Recapture the spirit of the baroque era on the Saar-Palatinate Baroque Route

This themed route runs for some 100km through countryside once inhabited by princes, dukes and counts, drawing on the region's rich baroque history. The baroque era, running from 1650 to 1800, saw the creation of magnificent stately homes and wonderful works of art – truly a great period of artistic and architectural enlightenment.

You will be astonished at the baroque treasures waiting to be discovered along this charming themed route near the French border. Saar Palatinate is a district in the south-eastern corner of Germany with four former ducal towns: Ottweiler, Zweibrücken, Blieskastel and Saarbrücken. These, together with vestiges from the region's three, closely entwined dynasties – the Princes of Nassau-Saarbrücken, the Counts Palatine of Zweibrücken and the House of Leyen – form the main stopping points on the route. Dotted between these, visitors will discover a myriad of buildings from the baroque era, which are now elegant venues for a variety of musical, artistic and culinary offerings. The route has tour leaders in period costume or, if you prefer, you can take things at your own pace. Highlights include a host of spectacular buildings by renowned baroque architect Friedrich Joachim Stengel, superb castles and churches, the former hunting grounds, residences and flamboyantly designed baroque gardens of the nobility and themed culinary treats. The Baroque Route aims to stimulate the imagination, to open up our eyes to hidden treasures and to sharpen our sense of the stories and ideas that lie behind the everyday.